Hand-to-Hand Combat

In the presence of Emperor Stephanus and Praetor Gambit (above) a gladiators tournament was held at Romanum yesterday.

The event was a part of the ongoing GA SummerFest and in celebration of the Gay Archipelago's seventh anniversary.

 I visited the event with my husband Tomais and our friend Vexsten, we were joined by our friend Rusty (above). The rest of the audience was not large, but extremely enthusiastic.

The Rectoris Gladiatoris Austen functioned as a master of ceremonies of sorts. He explained the proceedings to those of us who were not well acquainted with such events.

There were six gladiators present. They were paired of to give us three near-mortal fights.

 

After those fights the three winners of the first jousts got to meet each other in a free for all.

 

The last man standing and winner of this fight was the gladiator Gaius (above), at least in my opinion, although the Rectoris Gladiatoris declared that the victory was shared by Gaius and Tybalt. It is true that Gaius lost consciousness immediately after he had beaten Tybalt, but as far as I could see he was somehow defeated by a gladiator who wasn't among the three finalists.

Gaius receives his due reward (above) by getting a kiss from the gladiator Januarius, whom he had defeated in the final.

The Rectoris Gladiatoris then called in all six gladiators, brought in three lionesses (who did not wish to be photographed) and joined in himself in a final fight, with all against all and the lions.

The winner of the final fight was the gladiator Tybalt (below), this time fairly and squarely knocking all of the rest unconscious and killing some lionesses too.

Second Pride Board Reshuffles

It's been awhile since I was able to attend a Second Pride board meeting, but I follow whats going on closely by reading the agendas and minutes that are posted at the Second Pride website (url).

Lately there have been a few interesting developments that I would like to report for those of you who do not have the time, inclination or patience to read minutes.

Tylo Mabellon (picture), who was elected to the Marketing Chair, has been voted off the board for having missed more than three consecutive regularly scheduled meetings without notification. 

I am hoping that Tylo is well, despite having failed to respond to the questions from the board. He is a pleasant man that worked well as marketing director during the last board.

Merrick Genesis (picture) was voted in to replace Tylo as Marketing Chair at the board's latest meeting on November 13, 2013.

The elected Security Director Gaius Tripsa (picture) was voted off the board at the last meeting for having missed four consecutive regularly scheduled meetings without notification. 

An open call has been made for parties interested in taking over the Security Chair to submit a notecard to the secretary/co-chair Petr Hastings-Vanbeeck as soon as possible. The applications will be posted on the Second Pride website for discussion and comments by the membership.

I don't believe that losing Gaius as a board member is a loss to the board in any way. From what I have observed Gaius has since the elections mostly been destructive and acting as a puppet for the losing faction in the election. He has invariably tried to cause as much havoc and damage as he possibly could whenever or wherever he could, both at meetings and in-between them.

So far two applications have come in and have been posted on the forum. One of the applications is from a European man, Tylendel Falconer, and the other is from an American woman, Sutry Long. As I see it both of them would be qualified and a welcome addition in diversifying the board, whether it be to broaden its geographical base or to improve the gender balance.)

Petr Hastings-Vanbeeck urged the other members of the board to consider appointing co-chairs, so that no-quorum meetings can be avoided in the future. Petr also announced that Andy Long (picture) had agreed to be his Secretary Co-Chair for 2014. 

At the meeting the question was raised on why the board had changed the normal time of the board meetings from Sundays at 11AM to Wednesdays at 7PM. The reply given was that this "is currently (the) time when we can definitely get all the board together to be able to hold a meeting with quorum."

I certainly hope that the board will consider the question of what time to hold its meetings carefully in the future, when they have replaced all the vacancies and non-attendees and also appointed co-chairs, because the new time of the board meeting only accentuates the impression that Second Pride is solely an American affair, which I do not believe is quite the impression the board wishes to convey.

Lazy Sunday

The laird rests while his guardian angels Butch and Guyke watch

Rest and recreation is essential for a man like The Much Honored Bock McMillan, laird of Southern Charm, prince of Cascade Falls and sovereign ruler of The Commonwealth of Southern Enchantment with Outer Territories and UN Protectorates.

Noblesse oblige, so between his laden social calendar, his lairdly duties and his investigative blogging (or being a general busybody as some call it when he doesn't report as they would wish he reported) take a heavy toll on even a strong man.

Yesterday an opportunity for some rest opened up, as the board meeting of Second Pride was not unduly prolonged, although some unsuccessful attempts were made.

The present board of Second Pride (with the exception of Tylo Mabelion), from left
to right Jagger Naughton, Petr Hastings-Vanbeeck, Damian Tar, Gaius Tripsa,
Karl Kalchek, interim build director Jak Calcutt and Hotboy Lockjaw.

The board announced that it had received two applications for the vacant positions as Treasurer and Build Director. It was decided that the candidate statements would be posted on the Second Pride website for membership review and that the board would later vote on the issue at a public meeting on Wednesday night October 2, 2013, at 6PM SLT.

The candidate statements are already posted here: Second Pride; Board Candidate Statements (url).

Although I will not spoil your fun when going there to check out the applicants, I must say that I welcome them both. The two would, in my not so humble opinion, be a tremendous asset for the Second Pride Board in its future work.

An Interesting Second Pride Board Meeting

Last Sunday morning, at 8AM SLT, was the first meeting of the SP2014 board after their installation.

Damian Tar

The agenda for the meeting contained items that can be classified as "potential dynamite" for those of us who are versed in reading such dreary documents. Among other things there was a proposal for changes in the roles of the chairperson and the treasurer. 

The meeting room was packed with mostly interested members and one member who mainly focused his attention on my allegedly puny, insignificant and uninteresting derriere, the sight of which caused him to blackout with boredom according to a post on said members blog.

Although there was a risk of this meeting getting out of hand I am proud to report that it was throughout conducted in a respectful and orderly fashion, much thanks to the competent leadership of the Chair Damian Tar, who was obviously well prepared and conducted the meeting in a calm, kind and responsive manner.

The directors (from left to right) Petr Hastings-Vanbeeck, Karl Kalchek,
Paul Gracemount (Mr. G), Gaius Tripsa, Damian Tar and Hotboy Skytower.

The complete minutes from the meeting are posted on the Second Pride website, SP Board Meeting September 8, 2013. I will however give you my subjective summary here.

The meeting was shocked and astonished to be informed of certain aspects of what had been going on within the board since the election.

It became clear to the assembled members (from the proposed bylaw amendments and the additional information received during the meeting) that the Treasurer had certain trust-issues which had lead him to refuse to, in direct contravention of the bylaws, share the password to the Second Pride Avatar (the treasure chest of the organisation) with the Chair and Co-Chair and to refuse to submit monthly financial reports to the board. The Treasurer had thereby also refused access to the Second Pride Avatar by the Auditing Committee. 

It was also apparent that the Treasurer - for unclear reasons - was at odds with the practice that had been established by the previous boards and had refused to share ownership of the Second Pride Festival Group with the Chair.

After these alarming issues had been discussed extensively the board (or a majority of it) directed the Treasurer to comply with the bylaws and established practices and share passwords and ownership with other members of the board.

I was filled with a great relief and much pride when I left the meeting. Relief  for the competent way the Chair and the board as a whole had handled the situation and pride that the serious topics had been discussed in such a respectful and thoughtful way despite the potentially inflammatory issues.

---

After the board meeting I have learned that the Treasurer, has complied with or made arrangements for complying with all the boards decisions.

Following the board meeting Paul Gracemount (Mr. G), the Build Director, posted the following message on Facebook.

"To: Second Pride Membership and Board

This letter is to Inform the Second Pride membership and board that effective immediately, I resign the position of Second Pride Build Chair. I wish you good luck in the coming year but I do not have the time to put my best effort into Second Pride. If the Board would inform whomever they elect / select to fill the vacant position to contact me when they assume their duties to discuss the current Second Pride headquarters build.

Thank you all for your support in the past year,Mr Paul Gracemount"

I was extremely sad to read this notice as Mr. G is a levelheaded and charming man and an extremely talented builder who did a great job on the builds for this years festival and the beautiful new headquarters for Second Pride. He and his talents will be sorely missed.

The New SP2014 Board

The results of the elections of the SP2014 Board of directors were announced at midnight. The new board will consist of the following members.

Chairman:: Damien Tar

Dextrum Boucher - 70 votes (48 %)
Damien Tar - 76  (52,%)

Secretary/Co-Chair::  Petr Vanbeeck
Andy Long - 65 votes (46 %)
Petr Vanbeeck - 75 votes (54 %)

Treasurer:: SquirtN Wonder
SquirtN Wonder - 123 votes (unopposed)

Events Director:: Hotboy Skytower
Female avatar X - 70 votes (48 %)
Hotboy Skytower - 75 votes (52 %)

Community Relations Director:: Karl Kalchek
Male avatar Y - 46 votes (32 %)
Karl Kalchek - 68 votes (48 %)
Joshie Drew - 29  votes (20 %)

Building Director:: Mr Gracemount
Mr Gracemount - 121 (unopposed)

Security Director; Gaius Tripsa
Gaius Tripsa - 120  (unopposed)

Marketing Director::  Tylo Mabellon
Tylo Mabellon - 121 (unopposed)

Communications/IT Director:: Jaggy Naughton 

Jagger Naughton - 127 (unopposed)

My congratulations to the winners, it was a close race but you made it. I also wish to thank those candidates who also ran for making this election so interesting.

The new board will be installed on August 18, 2013, at 11AM SLT and have their first meeting as a board of Second Pride. The existing Board will step down at that time and any transfers will take place at that time.

Special note. The candidates mentioned above as "Female candidate X" and "Male candidate Y" have expressly asked me to never mention their names again on my blog (for Y that restriction also includes never showing his picture). As none of them won their race I see no need to mention them at this time.

Rumors...

As we are getting close to the end of the voting period the air is rife with rumors of what may or may not happens once the results are declared. The last days the tumors have mostly been along this line "if so-and-so doesn't get elected to this or that position (usually chairperson) X, Y and maybe even Z will resign from the board even if they have been elected"

I sure as hell hope that the rumors are untrue, because if that should indeed happen the persons resigning from the board will have proved themselves to be blatant and shameless liars and completely untrustworthy persons who didn't give a damn about Second Pride or the LGBT community in SecondLife at all, but were intent on making Second Pride their own little roadshow for a year.

I would especially like to urge the two running for chairperson of the board to see to it that anything along these lines doesn't happen, because I - and I believe a large part of the community - will hold them responsible.

Below I have listed how the candidates responded in part to my question about "a ticket".

Dextrum Boucher: "I will of course work with whoever is elected, this is a basic principle of democracy. Once the election is over, we pull together and put the will of the people to work."

Damian Tar: "No I have not formed an alliance of any sort formally or informally."

Andy Long:  "I have not even made recommendations to my friends as to who they should vote for, just that they should choose and vote for the person they feel is the best candidate. I feel like we should stand on our own merits and qualifications, and as such, i have tried to ally myself with all the candidates, and not just a select few."

Petr Vanbeeck: "I feel that I can work anyone who is elected. And will do my best to accomplish that."

SquirtN Wonder: "I am not part of a ticket"

Mz Marville: "...there was discussion about the formation of a ticket. However, a formal ticket was not utilized..."

Hotboy Lockjaw: "As far as i know there is no official or unofficial ticket. All we can do is support other members of the board if we are elected."

Garrett Ceriano: "... this list is not evidence that we don't believe the others are not excellent candidates. There are other candidates that I would enjoy working with. I know other candidates on the list would love to as well."

Karl Kalchek: "... if elected we would work together, and I meant it."

Joshie: "I have absolutely NOT formed any ticket nor have I reached out to create any type of “arrangement” with anyone else running in the Second Pride Board Elections."

Mr G: "I will work with whomever gets elected Bock. I shall try to do it productively – but until you actually work with someone that cannot be answered in a simple yes or no."

Gaius Tripsa: "I look forward to working with the new Board members, whoever the voters select, for the good of the LGBT community and the Second Pride Festival."

Tylo Mabellon:  "I’ll work with whoever is voted to the Board this year regardless of the outcome. I wish everyone well in the election!!"

Jaggy: "In no way, shape or form have I ever considered myself part of some alliance or ticket. The community should be THE alliance…every friggin’ segment of it"